The tunnel runs below the inner Te Hēnui Cemetery entrance gates, with the large London Plane tree at the left of the image above marking the eastern (downstream) tunnel entrance.
This little-known stream tunnel was constructed in mid-1903 to replace a culvert that had been badly damaged by flooding. The tunnel is driven through clay and carries the Uria Stream underneath Watson Street near the inner Te Hēnui Cemetery gates.
The New Plymouth Borough Council called for tenders for "driving a tunnel at the Cemetery Reserve" in late June 1903, with Mr J. Lynch's tender of £11 17s 3d accepted at the Borough Council meeting on Monday 13 July. By early August the Borough Council Engineer reported that the tunnel was complete.
The Uria Stream has its beginnings in the gully below NPBHS and drains water from the area around the racecourse. The stream is now culverted until it reaches the eastern side of Webster Field, where it emerges to wind along the northern boundary of the Te Hēnui Cemetery, before passing under the Te Hēnui Walkway, and into the Te Henui River.
Related item:
Te Uria Stream, New Plymouth map 1909 - cropped. (Puke Ariki collection ARC2005-38)
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